Campfire Song
by BrenRenQoI
Summary: Sam and Jack share a moment early one offworld morning. Set early season seven, no specific ep.


Sam sat near the small campfire, gazing up at the stars on yet another alien planet. She'd been on countless alien worlds, now, and had seen more than her share of breathtaking views, but tonight's vista just might top them all, she thought. There was a large crescent moon hanging low near the horizon, and the stars were bright and glorious all across the night sky. A small smile formed on her lips as she simply enjoyed the view.

She heard footsteps approach, and realized belatedly that the Colonel was up for his turn at watch. "Hello, Sir," she said quietly.

"Good morning, Carter," he replied. He fixed himself a cup of coffee before sitting down beside her. His gaze turned upward. "Nice," he commented.

"It's beautiful," Sam replied, her voice low and awestruck.

"Yes, it is," Jack reply. Sam turned and realized he was no longer looking at the stars. She blinked, wondering why he suddenly seemed so very close to her. "So, where's home?"

Sam turned her head up to look back at the stars, her eyes scanning down toward the horizon to Jack's left. He turned his gaze to track hers, till she stopped and pointed. "There, somewhere out there."

"That's quite some moon." Jack's voice, too, was low and quiet. "It's huge!"

"Must be much closer to this planet than our moon. I bet the tides coming in are an awesome sight, too. They're out that way," Sam said, pointing off to Jack's right. He turned and listened, and sure enough, way out in the unseen distance, he could hear the crashing of waves.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this… but I actually miss these easy missions… it's been a tough run lately. But this… hiking around, poking around a bunch of old rocks, camping out with friends, it's… nice," Jack finished.

Sam was surprised at the admission from him. It wasn't normal for him to be so verbose, and she had to wonder if he was feeling all right. Her concern showed in her face as she took a good hard look at him. He actually looked… content, she decided.

"It is nice," Sam agreed.

"I probably haven't told you this enough, Carter… but… you're pretty damn good at what you do. I'm lucky to have you on my team." Jack's eyes studied her as the soft praise came out.

Sam was very curious now as to what brought this on. "Thank you, Sir," Sam said quietly.

Jack sighed, scrubbing a hand across his eyes. "We've managed to keep this team together a lot longer than I'd imagined… Even though we did lose Daniel for a while… we've got him back now, and it's almost like he never left." Jack paused, and resumed studying Sam's face as his next words came out. "I don't know what I'd have done if it had been you instead of Daniel. In spite of all the distance between us this past year or two, which is most certainly my fault, I still… care… a lot…" Jack trailed off.

"Sir… what's brought all this up?" 

"I don't know… I was having this strange dream, and when I woke up… I just felt compelled to… wear my heart on my sleeve for a minute." Jack's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed once, the only outward sign of his sudden nervousness.

"I see…" Sam wasn't sure how to respond, but she knew she needed to say something in kind. "There has been a lot of distance between us. It got better after Daniel came back, but it's still been there. We got so close, once… probably too close."

"Definitely too close. That's why I had to pull back so hard." Jack closed his eyes for a moment.

"I pulled back pretty hard, too. Don't take it all on yourself, Sir." At her words, Jack opened his eyes and dared making contact with hers. "We did what we had to do to keep the team together. I don't regret it. Do you?"

"In the long run… No. But sometimes… moments like this, when I'm in danger of letting my guard down completely… sometimes I do regret it. I regret all of it."

Sam let his words sink in a moment before replying. "Me, too."

"Sorry to dump this on you."

"No, don't be. It's good we talked. We should do it more often," Sam said in a rush, eager to keep some of the closeness she could feel returning between them once more. It was like an autumn rain after a long, hot, dry summer, so welcome and refreshing.

"Ya think?" Jack asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I do." Sam returned his smile with one of her own. For a long, quiet moment, they simply stared quietly at one another, basking in the glory of the comradeship returning in their conversation.

"Hey, I just noticed something," Jack said suddenly. He gently turned Sam's face around so that she was looking over her left shoulder. Jack's hand came around behind her and pointed toward the horizon, near the sinking moon. "If you trace a line around those stars right there," he said, his hand drawing an invisible line across the night sky, "It looks exactly like… Homer Simpson!" He finished happily.

Sam chuckled, her laughter reverberating through to Jack, so near were they sitting. He practically had his arms wrapped around her now, and all either of them wanted, really, was to close the circle and complete the embrace.

Instead, Jack moved his hands behind his back, leaning back on them to keep them still. Sam shifted over to create the slightest distance between them once more. But it wasn't nearly so big a gaping hole as had been prior to their conversation tonight.

"Thank you, Sir," Sam said.

"For what?" Jack asked with confusion in his eyes.

"For… clearing the air, as they say."

"Oh, that… Anytime, Carter. Sorry I let it get so murky for so long."

"Don't worry about it… just don't let it happen again," she said, only half-joking.

"I won't. That's a promise." Jack's eyes were dark and solemn in the waning campfire light.

"I'll hold you to that." Sam then had to stifle an unexpected yawn. "I think I'll go get some shut-eye before the sun comes up." 

"You do that… Sweet dreams, Carter."

"Thank you, Sir." Sam made her way over to her bedroll as Jack got up to add some fuel to the campfire. He watched as she got comfortable, then let out a deep sigh of contentment. He'd gotten that off his chest, and it hadn't been nearly as difficult as he'd thought it would be. They were going to be okay, and that made this the beginning of a very good day, indeed.


End file.
